It's said that to make it in television — or any business, for that matter — you have to know how to pivot. If that’s the case, congratulations to all of us for pivoting from “Survive ’Til 2025” to, simply, “Survive 2025.”
This has undoubtedly been a challenging year for the industry on multiple fronts, but I am so grateful for the trust and the collaboration of my Academy colleagues. From meeting with legislators in Washington, D.C., to supporting our task force on AI and emerging technologies, I’ve been focused on the protection of our members’ jobs and the preservation of their livelihoods. Our proactive stance on AI includes the creation of guidelines for our members to ensure that any AI deployed is in adherence to our standards of creative integrity, proper licensing and full accountability, transparency and sustainability.
Summertime saw the realization of a long-held dream for many of us at the Academy: our very own festival, dedicated to the medium we all love. Our inaugural Televerse outing gathered fans and professionals alike for three days of panels, workshops and other activations, and our intention is to make this an annual highlight of the entertainment calendar in the run-up to our marquee event, the Emmy Awards — which has risen in the ratings each year I’ve been chair.
I am grateful for your support as I begin my second term. As 2025 draws to a close, I think we have all learned better than to predict exactly what 2026 will bring. Even in the best of times, this business is tough, and in a downturn, it’s even harder. But adversity builds resilience, and I am confident that this industry will be all the better and wiser for it. So much of my optimism is grounded in the knowledge that as an Academy, we are younger, more diverse and bigger than ever, with the lowest membership churn in our history. I often say that we are nearly 30,000 members strong because that’s exactly how I see it: a massive, variegated body of storytellers and professionals whose collective strength will help us all navigate what’s to come. I look forward to this journey together.
This chair letter originally appeared in emmy magazine, issue #13, 2025.
